"The truth of the matter is that … we've created 4.3 million jobs over the last 27 months, over 800,000 just this year alone ... The private sector is doing fine. Where we're seeing weaknesses in our economy have to do with state and local government," which, he said, isn't getting the support it needs from Washington.

Given that unemployment is over 8 percent, and Q2 GDP is tracking at less than 2 percent, saying that any part of the economy is "fine" looks wildly out of touch, and Republicans are lambasting him for it.